GPUs

EVGA outs the GeForce RTX 2060 KO to counter the Radeon RX 5600 XT for Just $279

Until the arrival of the Radeon RX 5600 XT, Nvidia enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the sub-$300 graphics card segment. The Radeon RX 590 was dead on arrival, delivering performance that was barely better than existing Polaris cards. First, the GTX 1660 Ti and then the GTX 1660 gave gamers excellent Team Green options at these price-points, with the 1660 Ti, in particular, delivering GTX 1070 levels of performance at just $279.

The arrival of the Radeon RX 5600 XT appears to change things. AMD now has its own $279 card which it claims will deliver noticeable performance gains over the GTX 1660 Ti. And since that part has no ray-tracing support, rasterization performance is all that really matters in the comparison.

Nvidia decided to counter-punch, not by releasing yet another Super SKU, but by cutting prices on its entry-level RTX 2060. The RTX 2060 arrived with a $349 sticker price. At EVGA’s CES 2020 booth, Techpowerup spotted the RTX 2060 KO, the very first $299 RTX 2060.

When the GeForce RTX 2060 Super was announced, it wasn’t immediately superseded. Rather, the RTX 2060 Super occupied the $399 price-bracket while the RTX 2060 continued to sell for $349. Nvidia’s recent price-cut pushes the RTX 2060 down to just $299. At present, for a rebate, it can be purchased for just $279, same as the RX 5600 XT.

This makes it the most affordable RTX card by a huge margin. Even for a $20 price premium (the increase of, for instance, getting a premium AIB card), buyers considering the Radeon RX 5600 XT could get their hands on a faster card that supports RTX ray-tracing. The EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 KO marks EVGA’s entry-level solution: the simple two-fan cooling design and limited display connectivity make it clear that this is a budget option. However, EVGA themselves have said that an RTX 2060 KO Ultra is coming for $20 more. EDespite being slightly more expensive, it’d be a remarkable price-performance offering.

Arjun

Penguin-published author, and journalist. Loves PC hardware but has terrible hand-eye coordination. Most likely to be found playing Total War or watching weird Russian sitcoms.
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